Chapter 56: Sacrifice, Flames, Ritual (1)

The smoke that left the tent scattered in all directions and then plunged to the ground. Then like a sprout growing into a tree, it rose from the ground to the sky as it spread branches in all directions, and began to cover the entire shrine with leaf-shaped smoke, resembling a forest. The smoke dropped spheres to the ground like fruits, and these spheres moved towards the shrine's pillars and were absorbed into them.

"---!"

A mercenary who had come out to see this sight tried to shout something to those following, but realized that the sound coming out of his mouth wasn't resounding, as if it had been muted.

He glanced at Jinseong with a mix of awe on his face, then led them using hand signals commonly used by mercenaries.

Jinseong and the mercenaries moved in that violent silence.

They followed the pungent smell of urine, going around where the cigars were stuck and lighting them, and when the cigar smoke, unlike the ritual smoke, spread on the ground like a thick fog enveloping the shrine, they silently loaded ammunition into sawed-off shotguns and moved towards the main hall.

"--!"

"-!"

As they moved like this, they encountered people who had rushed out startled, thinking there was a fire when the smoke spread.

The people who had come out thinking there was a fire looked puzzled when they found no place actually on fire, but seeing the current situation where no sound echoed and the fully armed mercenaries, they seemed to assess the situation and drew the swords they were carrying.

The color of each person's qi rose from the swords they had drawn.

It was a technique called sword energy.

Were they individuals stationed to guard the shrine?

Those who had drawn out sword energy, which only martial artists above a certain level could use, moved in unison and took stances to face Jinseong and the mercenaries. Jinseong, who had been quietly watching this scene, said to the mercenaries:

"Shoot."

It was a privilege possible only because he was the officiant of the sorcery ritual.

The mercenaries who heard Jinseong's order simultaneously sprayed shotgun shells at the martial artists.

The martial artists, as if they had been waiting for the silently flying bullets, activated their protective barriers and charged at them. And the mercenaries, perhaps their adrenaline surging at that, continued to pull the triggers of their shotguns while silently laughing madly.

And when the shotgun shells were exhausted, instead of reloading, they drew strangely shaped guns they had been carrying on their backs and aimed them at the martial artists.

"---!"

Then nets flew through the air from all directions.

The nets that shot out from the net guns for capturing criminals flew towards the martial artists, occupying space with their surface area, and the martial artists, who had only been expecting ordinary bullets, swung their swords at this sight to try to cut the nets.

But the nets, as if prepared even for being cut, clung to the martial artists' bodies while spraying sticky blue slime as soon as they were cut. The slime stuck to their clothes and skin and hindered their movements, seemingly possessing tremendous adhesive power.

While the martial artists were momentarily tangled in the nets, the mercenaries skillfully reloaded their shotguns and simultaneously fired shells at them.

Scattering metal beads.

Thorns spreading in all directions.

Even beads that spray poison as soon as they touch an object.

The shells fired by the mercenaries continuously tormented the martial artists.

The protective barriers used by the martial artists were eaten away by the metal beads, and through the gaps in these eroded barriers, thorns coated with powerful sedatives entered.

The poisonous liquid bursting from the beads vaporized, making them careful even with their breathing.

"Rise. Do it."

And while the martial artists were being tormented by the mercenaries, Jinseong signaled to Rise.

Then Rise, as if she couldn't bear to watch what was happening to the martial artists, tightly closed her eyes and released the divine power she had gathered.

"-!"

The divine power that left Rise's hand became a hammer.

Like a blacksmith striking an anvil with a hammer, it struck down the martial artists whose feet were tangled, breaking their bones and making them lie flat on the ground.

When the martial artists fell to the ground, the mercenaries, as if to confirm the kill, simultaneously loaded ammunition and fired at them.

Then the mercenary who had been called a bartender earlier took out a bottle from the box he had been carrying on his back and threw it at them.

"----!"

The martial artists lying on the ground writhed in the flames of the Molotov cocktail.

Especially those who had been pretending to be down while waiting for an opportunity moved as if dancing to shake off the fire, shocked by the situation of their bodies catching fire, and the bartender watched this scene as if it were amusing and fired the net gun at them.

The net gun fell on the bodies of the martial artists who were panicking because of the fire, binding their movements, and they struggled in shock to tear the nets with force. But the nets made for capturing criminals didn't break easily, and they could only silently scream in pain as their bodies burned and the nets entangled them more the more they moved.

And as Rise was shocked by this terrible scene, Jinseong said:

"Don't worry. Martial artists who can draw out sword energy won't die from just this."

The mercenaries nodded as if to confirm his words, and Rise, half in doubt, turned her face towards Jinseong as if she didn't want to see the martial artists burning alive. Then she grabbed his clothes with trembling hands and bowed her head deeply.

Forgetting that no sound could be made, she then opened her mouth to say something, but soon realizing that her words couldn't be conveyed, she closed her mouth again and bowed her head deeply. Jinseong stared at her for a while, then brought his left hand to her arm and drew a pattern on her arm with his finger that was dripping blood.

The pattern wasn't drawn properly and was hard to make out, but for some reason, as Rise looked at it, she felt reassured and thought she could easily overcome the current situation.

When Rise seemed to calm down, he gestured to the mercenaries to move, and they headed towards the main hall, leaving behind the martial artists writhing in pain.

"Om Gam Ganapataye Namah (ॐ गम गणपतये नमः)."

Then, as soon as they arrived at the main hall, he loaded ammunition into the shotgun and fired at the tightly closed doors of the main hall.

The shotgun Jinseong held spewed an enormous amount of fire as if it had become a flamethrower. The flames created by the combination of metal powders like zirconium and aluminum in the shells and magically treated flammable substances covered the door like flames spewed by a dragon.

But the door, as if it had been fireproofed, didn't burn easily, and seeing this, Jinseong clicked his tongue and said:

"Shoot."

As if they had been waiting for those words, the mercenaries simultaneously loaded Dragon Fire slug shells into their shotguns and spewed pillars of fire from their respective sawed-off shotguns. And under this overwhelming violence of flames, the fireproofed door began to catch fire, and seeing this, the bartender who had been laughing madly in silence stepped forward.

The bartender, not even trying to hide his bulging pants, began throwing grenades towards the main hall with a face full of excitement. The white phosphorus grenades thrown from his hand flew through the air and exploded when they reached the roof of the main hall, and amazingly, they only burned the roof as if they had been thrown with the time it would take them to reach the roof in mind.

And when holes were blown in the roof, he began throwing Molotov cocktails one by one, holding the bottom part.

He lit the Molotov cocktails by bringing the cloth to the shotguns spewing pillars of fire, then held the bottom and threw them towards the roof like javelins, and true to the saying that he had a knack for arson, they went right through the holes created in the roof.

"ॐ-"

Jinseong quietly closed his eyes like a monk performing a fire ritual in front of the blazing flames.

Using the shrine as firewood to burn away worldly troubles, and taking the snake of fire rushing to burn the main hall as wisdom, he quietly closed his eyes and began to tear the clothes he was wearing.

The torn clothes left Jinseong's hand and flew towards the main hall surrounded by pillars of fire, and as soon as sparks caught on the fabric, they burst into flames and scattered in all directions. The torn clothes began to form some shape in shimmering red and orange, and from a distance, this shape resembled a fluttering moth.

The fire moths flew through the air towards the holes created in the roof.

Jinseong waited until the fire moths reached the holes, then levitated a bunch of Dragon Fire slug shells in the air and threw them to the bartender.

"Throw them."

With a face full of excitement, the bartender silently shouted in ecstasy and used his hand like a catapult to throw the shells into the roof.

And after pillars of fire shot up every time the shells entered the roof a few times.

The door of the main hall opened.

"--!!"

What came out of the opened door was the Shinto priest Yoshiaki, holding a huge bow that was taller than himself.

And Narumi, who was thoroughly singed and filled with anger.